By Harrison Pray, Valley News Live
HARWOOD, N.D. (Valley News Live) – People in Harwood are continuing to voice concerns on Tuesday, August 26, over a proposed A.I. factory or data center in their small town.
“Electric for sure. We’re out on the county a little bit and sometimes we lose electricity and I’m afraid the plant is going to have that issue,” said Nancy Coolidge, a Harwood resident.
Locals are concerned about the future of their own resources, which they believe could affect the community.
“Does this area have the resources to support it? I’ve been in other areas where they put something in and the resources didn’t hold up and the place ended up getting closed down. I’d hate to see that happen,” said Mark Coolidge, a Harwood resident.
On Monday, August 25, dozens of people packed their usually sparse town hall meeting to learn about the proposed $3 billion project.
“This community could change significantly and that’s not why people moved here. They moved here for the small town,“ said an anonymous Harwood resident at the public meeting.
Mark and Nancy Coolidge have lived in Harwood for eight years and they’re worried their small town isn’t ready for this big project.
“We have a small volunteer fire department so if there’s an issue, that could become an issue. And we don’t have a police force, so if you bring in more people into the area, what’s that going to do to the crime rate and stuff too?” said Mark Coolidge.
“The water usage of it. If they build their own power plant, then that wouldn’t be an issue,” said Nancy Coolidge.
Company leaders tried to put that concern to rest in an interview with Valley News Now on August 21.
“It’s very important for us to find somewhere that has a very robust infrastructure, has available capacity, and is somewhere we’re not going to negatively impact our neighbors. We want to make sure that we’re adding to the environment we’re in, not taking away,” said Nick Phillips, representative from Applied Digital.
Company leaders also say the project could create more than 200 jobs, which could be a big help for a town of only about 800 people. But Mark doubts many of those jobs would be filled by locals.
“What’s the minimum education you’re going to need? Because a lot of people may not qualify for it around here for it,” said Mark Coolidge.
The project is expected to build off the existing facility in Ellendale, which collectively would span more than 900 acres.
Applied Digital hopes the proposed facility will reach full capacity in early 2027.
